23 more dead as rains, flashfloods keep battering Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Flash floods caused by massive rains continued to wreak havoc across Pakistan, killing another 23 people over the past 24 hours, officials and local media reported on Sunday.

At least nine people lost their lives in southwestern Balochistan province, which remains the hardest hit by the ongoing monsoon spells, Provincial Disaster Management Authority confirmed.

Incessant rains along with flashfloods have inundated large swaths of land and washed away hundreds of houses, bridges, roads, and thousands of animals in 25 of a total 36 districts in Balochistan, mainly in the eastern parts.

Tens of thousands of stranded people in Sibbi, Jhal Magsi, Sohbatpur, Jaffarabad, Dera Murad Jamali, Lasbela, Kohlu, Dera Bugti, and other towns have taken refuge at higher grounds along the highways as rescue workers backed by the army troops are struggling to provide them cooked food and tents.

Another five people were killed in separate incidents of roof crashes in remote Ghari Khero town of southern Sindh province, where raging floods have submerged over a dozen districts.

Three children died when the roof of their house collapsed in Larkana, the hometown of two-time former late Premier Benazir Bhutto.

The remaining deaths were reported from different parts of Sindh and Punjab.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, a state-run agency that coordinates multiple relief and rescue organizations, over 675 people have died in the ongoing monsoon season, with 224 of them in southwestern Balochistan alone, since June 14.

The Meteorological Department of Pakistan has forecast another rain spell to hit the country's northwestern and northeastern parts, including the capital Islamabad, beginning on Aug. 23.